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Dead Duck Day

On June 5th 1995 at 17:55h, a mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) died after colliding with the all glass new wing of the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. Immediately after falling to the ground, the dead duck was mounted by a (live) duck — also of the male sex. The copulation took 75 minutes, and became known in the scientific community as ‘the first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard’. The victim is on display in the museum. Each year on June 5th at 17:55h, just outside the museum, right on the spot where it all happened in 1995, people gather to celebrate ‘Dead Duck Day’. This short ceremony commemorates the dramatic death of the duck — and the tragedy of billions of other birds that die from colliding with glass buildings.

[leest u liever Nederlands? Scroll down of klik hier] On June 5th, 1996 Kees Moeliker and a small number of other staff members of the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, silently celebrated what they call “Dead Duck Day”, to commemorate the first anniversary of the sudden and dramatic death (on June 5th, 1995) of the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) that entered the scientific literature as the first victim of homosexual necrophilia in this species. It became an annual tradition, and slowly more people attended, especially after ‘the duck paper’ was awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Biology Prize, for research that ‘first make people laugh and then think’. Since 2008, the 13th Dead Duck Day, the event is open to the public. The Natural History Museum Rotterdam and the European Bureau of Improbable Research invite duck enthusiasts and other people to come to the lawn next to the glass pavilion of the museum— the site where the duck met its fate — and join the short open-air ceremony. At 17.55 h (the exact moment when the mallard hit the glass facade) bird curator Kees Moeliker takes the now-historic stuffed duck specimen (NMR 9997-00232) out of the museum, says a few words to commemorate the dramatic event and explain – if asked – what exactly happened at that moment back in 1995. Usually, Moeliker will communicate recent observations of remarkable animal behavior, and (since 2010) he reads the annual Dead Duck Day message send in by a leading and/or remarkable (duck)scientist. So far Daniel Klem jr, Patricia Brennan,Tim Birkhead, Carin Bondar and Linda Lombardi have contributed to Dead Duck Day. The official part of the ceremony ends with a discussion about new ways to prevent birds from colliding with glass buildings. Then the gathered people (and the stuffed duck) move to a local restaurant called Tai Wu for a six-course duck dinner. On the occasion of the 18th Dead Duck Day, in 2013, a special memorial plaque was revealed: a ‘splash’ that marks the spot where the duck hit the glass and a sign that tells the story.

Hi! I am an American student, and I watched your TED talk on the duck. You concluded your video with an overview of duck day. Since I am in California, I have no way of traveling to the location of this event. I wanted to present an idea on how to prevent bird deaths. My idea is what if we use a radar, one using the same technology as a speed radar, that will sense the bird’s movement towards the window, and then trigger something that will stun the bird and make it change course or slow down before hitting the window. Just a thought🙂
Thank you for your amazing video ! I hope to take part in Duck Day sometime in my life,
Sincerely,
Kimiko B.